Resilient wheel for vehicles.



R. B. FIVEY. I nnsxmm WHEEL FOR VEHICLES. v APPLICATION PILED JUNE 25,1910. RENEWED SEPT. 28, 1912.

1,946,760, Patented Dec. 10, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNES ES' I I mvamon:

:Rfih aft EFB 17 e. K BY fl w M afiwvdaz ATTORNEYS R.B.FIVEY, RESILIENTWHEEL FOE VEHICLES. AP2LIOATION FILED JUNE 25, 1910. RENEWED SEPT. 28,1912 1,646,760.

ATTORNEYS INVENTORI 1 Rubefl E.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Dec lO, 1912.

* NE- s ATESF rgrnnr OFFICE.

ROBERT E. FIVEYQF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

RESILIE NT WHEEL FOR VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 25, 1910, Serial No. 568,804. Renewed September28, 1912, Serial No. 722,921.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT E. FIVEY, a citizen of theUnited States,residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State 5 of New Jersey,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Resilient Wheels forVehicles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, suehas will enable others skilledinthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying draW-' ings, and to characters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The present invention re iates, generally, to improvements in resilientor flexible vehicle wheels, with more particular reference to theadaptability of the said resilient or flexible vehicle wheel for usewith or upon 85 provide theresilientanfii cushion effect of the ordinarypneumatic tired wheel, but oh viati'ng the necessity and lise of apneumatic tire in connection therewith.

. Other objects of this invention not at this 40 time more particularlyenumerated will be clearly understood from tlje following detaileddescriptionflof my ,present invention.

With the variousobject's of the present in-v vention in view, the saidinvention consists, primarily, inthenovel resilient or flexible vehiclewheel hereinafter set forth; and, the invention consists,-.furthermore,in the novel arran ements-and combinations of the sev" eraldayicesahdparts, as Well as in the details :of the construction of the same, allof which will be more fully described in the following specification,and then finally embodied in the clauses of the claim which are appendedto and which form an essential part of this specification.

automobiles, motor-trucks, and vehicles of a The invention is clearlyillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sideelevation of my novel construction of resilient or flexiblevehiclewheel, showing a part of the hub flange broken away to illustratethe connection of the spokes with thehub. Fig. 2 is a detaillongitudinal section of one of the novel arrangements and constructionsof telescoping spoke, the internal operating parts of which are shownin'elevation. Fig. 3 is a similar detail longitudinal section of saidtelescoping spoke with all ofits internal parts shown in-section. Fig. 4is a horizontal sec-- tion of said telescoping spoke, said section beingtaken on line 44 in said Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail longitudinal sectionof a portion of one of said novel telescoping spokes, illustrating,however, a slightly modified form of certain of its internal parts.

Similar characters of reference are employed in all of the hereinabovedescribed views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to the several figures of the drawings, thereference-character 1 indicates the complete construction of resili--cut or flexible vehicle Wheel embodying thev principles of my resentinvention, the same comprising a hu -member 2 and a rim or folly-portion3. The said rim or felly-portion 3 may be adapted to carry any desirable type of tire 4;, such, as a metallic, Wooden, rubber, or othertire. Suitably secured upon the inner. side of said rim or folly-portion3 are 'a plurality of spokeseats 5, the same being preferably arrangedto form. an integral part of said rim or felly-portion 3. Saidspoke-seats 5 are constructed to provide a receiving socket or chamberedportion 6 adapted to receive and operatively connect with said rim orfollyportion 3, the outer end of a novel construction of spoke 7. Theinner end-portion 8 of said spoke 7 is adapted to be secured by means oftransverse ,PII'ISQ to and between the flanges of said hub-member 2. Thesaid novel construction of spoke 7 comprises a pair of telescopingtubular members respectively indicated by the reference-characters l0and 11. The upper end of said tu- Patented Dec. 10, 1912.

bulardnember 10 is'provided with internal screw-threads" 12 adapted toreceive the screw-threaded shank 13 of said end-portion 8, to connectsaid tubular member 10 thercwith. Connectedwith and preferahl yformshoulder 17 so as to bear against the flanged upper side of ing anintegral part with said shank 13 is a downwardly extending plunger-pin14, provided at :its base with a shoulder 15 adapted to provide a meansfor seating a coil-spring 16. The opposite end of said coil-spring 16 isseated upon or around a end 18 of a cylinder-pin 19, which is slidablyarrangedwithin said tubular member 10.. Said cylinder-pin 19 is providedwith a chambered portion 20 adapted to receive the said plunger-pin 14,which is slidably arranged therein. The under side of the flanged end 18of said cylinder-pin 19 is rovided with a seat 21 adapted to seat aball-bearing 22. The lower end of said tubular' member 11 is providedwith internal screw-threads 23 adapted. to receive the screw-threadedshank 24 of a rim-lug 25 which is seated in said receiving socket orchambered portion 6 of said spoke-seat 5,

being retained in this connected position by' means of the transversepin 26'. Connected with and preferably forming an integral part withsaid shank 24 is an upwardly extend? ing plunger-pin 27, provided at itsbase with a shoulder28 adapted to provide a means for seating acoil-spring 29. The opposite end of said coil-spring 29 is seated uponor around a shoulder 30 so as to bear against the flanged end 31 of acylinder-pin 32, which is slidably arranged within said tubular member11. Said cylinder pin 32 is provided with a chambered portion 33 adaptedto receive said plunger-pin 27, which is slidably arranged therein. Thethe flanged end 31 of said cylinder-pin 32 is provlded with a seat 34adapted to seat a ball-bearing 35. Loosely arranged in said telescopingtubular members 10 and 11 is a worm-member 36 prov vided with anupwardly extending shank wardly extending 37 having right threads 38 anda downwardly extending shank 39 having left threads 40. Secured in aproper location within said tubular member 10, by being brazed andpinned thereto, or otherwise rigidly connected therewith, is anut-member 41 adapted to engage the right threads 38 of said upwardlyextending shank 37 of said worm-member 36. In like manner, secured in aproper location within said tubular member 11," by being brazed andpinned thereto, or otherwise rigidly connected therewith, is anut-member 42 adapted to engage the left threads 40 of saiddownshank 39of said wormmember 736. Said upwardly extending shank 37 of saidworm-member 36 is provided at its free end with a collar 43 securedthereto by means of pins 44, or otherwise fastened.1 In like manner, thedownwardly extending shank 39 of'said' worm-member 36 is provided at itsfree end with a collar '45secured thereto by means of pins 46, or

, shock.

spoke may center.

otherwise fastened. The free ends of said respective shanks 37 and 39are provided with the respective bearing seats47 and 48 adapted to seat,respectively, the ball-bearings 22 and 35. The'said end-portion 8 isprovided at its upper end with a semi-circular bearing-portion 49adapted to lie tangent to the surface of said hub-member 2.

As thus constructed and arranged, the spokes 7 are elastic anddesignedto absorb shocks .and jars. The operation of said spokes in combinationwith the other parts of said resilient or flexible wheel, is as follows:A shock or jar imparted to the tire 4 and rim or felly-portion 3 iscarried to the spokes 7 which are adjacent to the'point of The saidspoke being formed of telescoping parts, the said parts slide one towardthe other causing a compression of the respective springs 16 and 29. Inaddition to the compression of said springs 16 and 29, a yieldingresistance to the action of said telescoping members 10 and 11 isafforded by the worm-member 36 which is caused to turn upon theball-'bea-rings'22 and 35, when the respective nuts 41 and 42 are moved1n contact respectively with the right thread 38 of said upwardlyextending shank 37 and the left thread 40 of said downwardly extendingshank 39. In this manner, the shock or jarupon the tire and rim ortelly-portion -is absorbed by the operation of the internal parts ofsaid spokes 7. In addition to the mechanical resistance; offered by thebait.

springs 16 and 29 and the worm-member 36, there is a pneumaticresistance afforded by.

the compression of the air in the chambered portions 20 and 33 of saidcylinder-pins 19 and 32, caused by the inward movement of the respectiveplunger-pins 14 and 27 thereinto. "Since the rim or fellyportion 3 is anintegral part, its vertical movement, as it follows the yielding spoke7, must necessarily be the same at all points in its circumference;hence, a lateral yielding of the laterally radiating spokes 7 must beprovided for .in order that the resilient and flexible qualities of thespoke acted upon may throughout the wheel as a whole.- To accomplishthisend, the spokes 7 are secured to the flanges of the hub-member 2 bymeans of the end-portion 8, which is provided with a semi-circularbearing-portion 49 to permit a yielding movement of the spoke upon thetransverse pins v9 forming a fulcrum upon which said'lateral movement ofsaid In'like manner, the connectionof said spoke 7 at .the rim orfellyportion ofthe Wheel must also be flexible; hence,,there is acertain amountof lateral play between the rim-lugzaand said spokeseats5, this movement being also centered and directed bythe transverse pins26.

It will thus be readily understood, that the whole wheel is resilientand flexible, and

extend parts as illustrated in the accompanying 'In this construction,instead of using a double or right and left-threaded Worm, as 36, Iemploy a single shank 50 provided with threads 51 which may be eitherleft or right, and a single nut-member 52 engaging with said threads 51,the said nut-member being rigidly connected with the tubular member 11.The operation and effect of this modified construction is substantiallythe sameas that described above in connectionwith the main and preferredconstruction.

I am aware that changes may be made in the arrangements and combinationsof thevarlous devices and parts, as wellas in the details of theconstruction of the same, without departing from the scope of my presentinvention, as described 'in the foregoing specification and as set forthin the following claims. Hence, I do not limit my invention to the exactarrangements and combinations of the devices and parts as hereindescribed, nor do I confine myself to the exact details of theconstruction of the said drawings. I

I claim: I

1. A resilient vehicle wheel comprising a hub-member and a rim, aplurality of telescoping spokes radiatin between said hubmember and saidrim, sald telescoping spokes comprising a pair of telescoping tubularmembers, means connected with the respective tubular members forconnecting the same, respectively, to saidhub-member and said rim, aplunger-pin rigidly connected with each tubular member, a cylinder-pinmovably arranged in each tubular member and adapted to receive saidrespective plunger-pins in sliding engagement therewith, a springarranged between each plungerin and cylinder-pin, and means arran edetween and engaging said cylin er-pins &

adapted to offer resistance to the telescoping action of said tubularmembers, said means 'comprlsmg a worm-member and nuts con nected,respectively, one with each of said tubular members, said nuts engagingthe threads of said worm-member, substantially as and for the purposesset forth.

2. ,A resilient vehicle wheel comprising a hub-member and a rim,a'plurality oftelescoping spokes radiating between said hubmember andsaid rim, said telescoping spokes comprising a pair of telescopingtubular members, means connected with the respective tubular members forconnecting the same, respectively, to said hub-member and said rim, aplunger-pin rigidly connected with each tubular member, a cylinder-pinmovably arranged in each tubular member and adapted to receive saidrespective lunger-pins in sliding engagement therewlth, a springarranged between each plunger-pin and cylinder-pin, and means arrangedbetween and engaging said cylinder-pins adapted to offer resistance tothe telescoping action'of said tubular members, said means comprismg aworm-member and nuts connected, respectively, one wlth each of saidtubular members, said nuts engaging the threads of said worm-member, andball-bearings arranged between each of saidv cylinderpins and therespective ends of said Wormmember, substantiallfas and for the purposesset forth. 1

3. A resilient vehicle wheel comprising a hub-member and a rim, aplurality of telescoping spokes radiating between said hubmemberand saidrim, said telescoping spokes comprising a pair of telescoping tubularmembers, a nut connected rigidly within each tubular-member, aworm-member loosely mounted within each telescopic spoke, the threads ofsaid'worm-members being operatively engaged by said respective nuts ofsaid tubular member, and means for mounting between the ends of saidworm-members and the outer ends of said tubular members, coiled springs,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony, that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereuntoset my hand this 23rd day of June, 1910.

m ROBERT E. FIVEY.

Witnesses:

FREDK. C. FRAENTZEL, FREDK. H. W. FRAENTZEL.

